Jonylah Forever

"Jonylah Forever"Song by Lupe Fiasco
from the album Drogas Wave
Released	March 15, 2013 (2013-03-15)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	3:45
Label	1st & 15th Thirty Tigers
Songwriter(s)	Rudolph Lopez Wasalu Jaco
Producer(s)	Soundtrakk
Drogas Wave chronology
‹ Previous	"Don't Mess Up the Children (Interlude)"
	"Jonylah Forever"
Next ›	"Kingdom"
Media

"Jonylah Forever" is a song by American rapper Lupe Fiasco, first released on March 15, 2013, to his SoundCloud. It was later added as the 15th track from his seventh studio album, Drogas Wave (2018). Produced by Soundtrakk, it samples Apparat's "Goodbye" and is in tribute to Jonylah Watkins, an infant at six months who was shot five times during open fire at her and her father Jonathan on March 11, 2013, in the Woodlawn neighborhood. Watkins died the next day on March 12; this brought to attention in the media about Chicago's prevalent gun violence.

Fiasco creates another reality for Watkins on the track, where her father chooses to no longer be involved in gang activities and instead becomes a committed parent. Watkins grows up to become a successful doctor and ends up saving a bleeding baby from the same fate she suffered. She also meets Hadiya Pendleton, who has become an artist—their paths cross at King College Prep, the high school Pendleton attended. "Jonylah Forever" is known to be one of Fiasco's most emotive songs.

Background

Fiasco expressed his anguish on Twitter over the devastating levels of violence in Chicago communities, writing, "A 6-Month old baby in Chicago was shot 5 times and killed while the father was changing its diaper. This is why I rant! This is why I speak out! This is why I sound preachy in my songs! I have no choice!" He later published "Jonylah Forever" to his SoundCloud, captioning, "She lives as long as we do. She will live forever. God bless your soul and the family you left behind. We Love You."

He told Vulture in 2020, "Every time that I'm making a 'Forever' [tribute song], I cry like a baby. It's like a strange affirmation that it's complete. When I finished 'Jonylah Forever,' I was a mess. 'Alan Forever,' I was a mess."

Trivia

• The 2013 version differs from the 2018 version, where it contains an echo.
• Because of the Apparat sample used, "Jonylah Forever" is sometimes erroneously credited to appear on Breaking Bad in "Face Off," its season four, finale episode.
• Jonylah Emani Watkins (September 16, 2012 – March 12, 2013) was killed by gunshots aimed at her father, who was parked in a minivan and changing her diaper. According to police reports, the shooting was in retaliation for a stolen video game system, which had been taken from Koman Willis' apartment and sold to someone else in the neighborhood. Willis was charged with first-degree murder and surrendered to the police on May 28, 2013. He went on to plead "not guilty" and was eventually dropped of all charges on December 14, 2020, due to circumstantial evidence.
• Hadiya Pendleton (June 2, 1997 – January 29, 2013) was a 15-year-old Black girl who was fatally shot in the back on January 29, 2013, after taking her final exams at the King College Prep High School. The shooters believed they were firing at rival gang members. In her memory, her friends founded Project Orange Tree, aiming to end structural violence. Fiasco supported the campaign through his charity organization, M.U.R.A.L., and hosted a community forum. Two suspects, Micheail Ward and Kenneth Williams, were arrested for first-degree murder and other charges: Ward was sentenced to 84 years in prison on January 14, 2019, and Williams received a 42-year prison sentence on July 20, 2021.

Lyrics

"Jonylah Forever"

[Intro: Lupe Fiasco]
You live, forever

[Verse 1: Lupe Fiasco]
How 'bout them bullets ain't slow you up?
You ain't really died and we watched you grow up
At 12 months you took your first steps
Awkwardly across the kitchen floor to your best
Your first breaths that we can call words
Were in your father's lap on November 23rd
And they were, "Live for me," and he did for you
Flipped to Neutron and stayed inside the crib for you
And this commitment from your father
Imparted a deep sense of value you forever harbor
We were all so proud as we seen you getting smarter
And the bond grow deeper between a mother and a daughter
'Cause you were not a martyr
(You live)

[Hook 1: Apparat]
Find out, I was just a bad dream
Goodbye

[Verse 2: Lupe Fiasco]
At six, you started reading whole books
At seven, you knew how a brain looked
And could roughly describe, all the different regions
Could tell when we was sick and even knew the reason
The world wasn't at peace, gunfire every weekend
But you were hardly there, cause you was always leaving
Field museum, planetarium, aquarium
You saw something special in that tank you were starin' in
And in those moments, as a little girl
You realized there was a bigger world
Bigger than the South Side, bigger than Chicago
You were bigger, still wanted rims on your car though
And big ass woofers in your car door
So you could wang like your daddy at the park eating sharks
Went to King where you were teased for being smart
Where you bumped into Hadiya teaching art
You live forever

[Hook 2: Apparat]
Find out, I was just a bad dream
Neither ever, nor never, goodbye
Neither ever, nor never, goodbye
Neither

[Verse 3: Lupe Fiasco]
At sixteen is when you got your scholarship
At twenty-two is when you got your doctorate
Even now it's kind of hard to believe
But your father taught you work hard, and achieve
And you complied
Accepted by every medical school you applied
But the coolest thing is when they offered you that high paying slot, you replied
"They need me in the hood," and that's where you reside
Free clinic, nobody denied
And that's where you heard the shots and quickly ran outside
And saw a man and a van and a bleeding baby in his hands
Fading fast, but you knew she could survive
Did everything you could to keep this girl alive
Stabilized until the ambulance arrived
And in that moment, where you gave your help
I bet you didn't know that you saved yourself

[Outro: Apparat, Lupe Fiasco]
Fold down your hands, give me a sign
Hooked on your lies
You live, forever
Lay down next to me, don't listen when I scream
Bury your doubts and fall asleep
Lord have mercy